Workers of the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) have decried non-payment of their salaries for 17 months, calling on relevant authorities to intervene.
In a statement made available to newsmen last week, about 700 staff of the board expressed that they have not been paid for over a year despite fulfilling all requirements expected of them including enrollment into Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
WikkiTimes in December 2022, investigated how the board carried out a massive recruitment of about 1,000 employees in 2019. Yet, majority of them are yet to start receiving their salaries to date.
Recruited to Suffer: Over 12 months Unpaid Salary, Arrears, Frustrate NBAIS Workers
According to one of the affected employees who spoke to WikkiTimes, the board had been quiet about the issue despite their efforts to get an explanation.
“We were recruited and documented for over a year now, yet we are yet to receive posting letters nor resume duty. The most challenging part is that no NBAIS official has come out to justify or explain our situation. No press release or any circular.
“Some of our colleagues had personally contacted the registrar severally to ask what is going on in the board, but every time, he would say not to worry, they are working towards addressing the issue,” he said.
As contained in their statement, titled, ‘Complaint Against Non-payment of Salary’ and jointly signed by Muhammad Suleiman, Chairman, Benjamin Ishiaka, the Secretary, and Andulsalam Ibrahim, the Public Relations Officer (P.R.O) of the group, the affected staff have been facing “untold hardships and great damage to them and their families.
“We have been employed since January 2021 by the National Board for Arabic & Islamic Studies (NBAIS). And we were adequately captured into the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) on December 2021 and it is very unfortunate to this day only few persons who constitute about 30% of employed staff received their salary, while the remaining 70% were left with their fate hanging in the air and a backlog of 17 months of outstanding salary.
In 2022, WikkiTimes Published 36 Investigative Stories, Here Are the Highlights
“This has brought untold hardships and great damage to us and our families. We lost the job we were managing to sustain ourselves, thinking a better opportunity had come when we took an appointment with NBAIS.
“At some points in time, we were asked by the Human Resources Department to submit a copy of the appointment letter and IPPIS slip for payment against the month of August 2021 which did not materialize and since then, things have become stagnant. No salary or any other information from the Board.
“However, after careful consultation and investigation, we were able to see an approval letter from the president and the ministry of education for our recruitment, upon mounting pressure, the HR alleged that our problem is from the budget office not with the Board, likewise we received another opposite information from the budget office which is contradicting.
“It is on this note that we are appealing to the press to kindly investigate the matter to save our souls and to have our salary together with arrears. We fail to see the reason why some ( the elite) were selected and got paid, but we strongly believe that this is the government’s renewed hope that an ordinary man in the street shall see better days,” the statement read.
At press time, an email sent to NBAIS had not been responded to.
